[EllieM]

Hi everyone. A few days ago my little Syrian, Daisy passed away. I have only had her for a couple of months and I can't believe she's gone so soon. I miss her so much and I'm feeling guilty that I did not realise that there was something so wrong and get her to a vet. She seemed absolutely fine up until a couple of days before she died when I noticed that she hadn't been on her wheel. She still seemed to be eating and drinking ok and I just wondered if she had been on her wheel during the night while I was asleep. The following night, she was up and about but seemed really lethargic. She came out to see me and take some food but then went back into her nest. I was worried but decided to wait and see how she was in the morning. When I went to check on her in the morning, she had died. I feel so sad that she is gone and guilty that I didn't try to do anything.
I am trying to come to terms with it and wondering why she died so young. When I picked her up after she had died, there was a little bit of poo around her bum but not much, which made me wonder if it could have been wet tail. It didn't look like diarrhoea though. I did some googling about wet tail and saw that lethargy and ears pointed back were also symptoms. I realised that she did have her ears pointed back but didn't think anything of it. The only other thing I noticed after she had died was that her tummy was swollen on the right hand side. I don't know why this would be.
I know nothing can bring her back, but I guess I'm just trying to come to terms why she died so young and wondering where I might have gone wrong. I read that wet tail can be caused by stress. If it was wet tail, I hope that I did not stress her out. She always seemed to be happy to be handled and I was always gentle with her.
She was only a tiny thing, but the room seems so empty without her.

Ellie